Ritual Magic (11 page)

Turning my focus back to scanning the area,
my eyes finally settled on two shadows near the edge of the rocky
cliff. "Just stay out of my way, mutt." I seethed through a whisper
as I pushed off and made a dash for the cliff at blinding speed.
There was no way that the werewolf was going to miss
that
little feet of physical ability.

As I neared the shadows, I saw them shifting
away towards the beach as I swiped both blades sharply down to my
sides, ready to stab, cut, crush, thrash and destroy. My two best
girlfriends—Sigourney and Stabitha. Well, that last one was from a
favorite show of mine, and I just couldn't help myself.

My arms began to act on their own, sweeping
out in broad, deadly motions with my blades as the shadow demons
attempted to move away from me, drawing my attention back towards
them. Halting at the edge of the water, I watched as the shapes
began to coalesce.

"Do it." I urged as I watched them with the
intensity of a hunter. "Just try to get me or the ones that I
love." I smiled with wicked animosity as the shapes began to drift
upward to take the form of two disgusting shadow demons. Yup, they
were the typical shadow demons—they never seemed to look any
different.

"You guys are just cookie cutters. No
individualism in any of your disgusting kind. All of you are black,
gnarled and repulsive." I spit at the sand where their clawed feet
clung to the grains. "You will not survive me, you know." I snarled
at them as I squared my shoulders.
I'm ready for you
bastards.

Just then there was a sharp howl and a huge
furry beast rammed right into the shadow demons standing before me.
Cursing underneath my breath, I rushed over to the fight as a
monstrous auburn colored wolf ripped and tore at one of the demons
while the other backed away cautiously, eyeing the wolf through the
black colored bulbs in its sockets. It turned to look at me as I
approached and it quickly flashed back into the shadows,
disappearing into the darkness as the wolf pounced again and again
on the remaining shadow demon like it was playing with a toy.

Releasing a disgusted huff, I watched as
odd-shaped pieces of the shadow demon flew across the sand, rolling
into the waves and dripping acidic blood into the roaring ocean.
Damned dog.
I growled as I turned to walk away. There was no
use in trying to stick around because the best move was simply to
walk away...before I hurt someone.

Behind me, the sounds of growling died away
as I continued to storm up towards the stone staircase. That damned
werewolf had stolen my prize and allowed one of those wretched
shadow demons to escape.
Idiot!
I seethed with anger as I
heard footfalls behind me.

"You can say thank you now." His heavy,
husky voice dripped with anger, sounding closer every second.

"Thanks for nothing." I snapped back at him
as I took the stairs two at a time. I had to get away from him
before I hurt him. It wouldn't do anyone any good for me to destroy
this annoying flea-infested jerkwad—that would be a waste of
perfectly good energy.

"Well, that didn't sound very heartfelt." He
called up to my back as I heard him stomping up the stairs behind
me.

"Are you
trying
to get yourself
killed?" Spinning around on him as he stepped up on the stone
directly underneath me, I squared my shoulders and crossed my arms
to create a barrier that was impassable for anyone. "Or are you
trying to annoy me
just enough
that I hurt you till you beg
to die?"

The werewolf had the nerve to laugh sharply
as he eyed me thoroughly from head to foot. "Hurt
ME?
" He
blurted out, "Yeah, in your dreams, Bitch McBadass." He shook his
scraggly hair and I noticed for the first time that this guy was
huge. His bulk was muscle throughout and his personality was all
attitude. Just the way he held himself screamed ex-military. Maybe
a Marine or a Navy SEAL. He was Special Forces, that was for
sure.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head before
turning on my heel to ascend the staircase again, this time two
steps ahead of him. "Just stay out of my way, mutt." I smiled to
myself because I knew that the weres absolutely
hated
to be
referred to as dogs. Honestly, I never spoke to a werewolf or any
supernatural creature the way that I was speaking to this werewolf.
He just angered me for some inexplicable reason, and I wanted to
whack him upside his shaggy head to straighten things out in that
huge melon. Knocking some sense into the ridiculous man seemed to
be an idea that sounded better and better every passing second.

"Whatever, prissy princess." He threw at my
back. I flipped the finger at him over my shoulder as I continued
to fly up the stairs, finally meeting the grassy landing of the
backyard garden with a quick thud, thud of my boots.

Spinning around in a swift movement of air,
I lifted my foot up and landed it square on his chest, pushing
forward with just a little
too much
pressure. He grunted
loudly as he lost his balance and fell backwards, sprawling down
the staircase as he slid, striking his head loudly on the way
down...several times.

"Serves you right, asshole! I had it all
covered."

I swept my way to the back of the house,
pausing to listen for any other sounds besides those pouring from
the injured werewolf on the staircase, cussing loudly about his
head. Smiling wickedly, I opened the door and pushed my way inside,
slamming the door shut behind me.
He'd better not even THINK
about coming in.

I was absolutely bubbling over with anger,
but it slowly subsided when I caught the uplifted eyebrows of my
mother and Mortisha sitting on the couch.

"Hey." I smiled as I straightened my shirt
and smoothed out my jeans, brushing them off because I just
realized I still had sand on them. "Sorry about the sand." I walked
over to my mother and hugged her softly and then moved on to
Mortisha, doing the same.

"So, I see that you have been busy."
Mortisha nodded up at me from her seat on the couch. "Will you fill
us in on what goes on outside? We heard some yelling and cursing."
Her eyebrow tilted upward as if she was guessing that I had been up
to no good.

"Couple of shadow demons were lurking down
on the shore." I shrugged, looking around for Solomon. "Where's
Dad?"

"We don't know." My mother responded with a
touch of concern in her voice as she glanced towards the doorway.
"You didn't see him?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "No. Just a
were. A very annoying, disgusting werewolf." I threw myself into
the overstuffed chair next to the couch, running my fingers through
my hair as I looked at my mother and tried to decide what to do
next.

"Well, isn't this nice?" Mortisha chimed in
to break the silence. "All one happy family." She smiled.

"Tisha, I get the feeling that you have
known a lot more about this whole thing than you are letting on."
Mom leaned in towards her and gave her a warning look. "Spill," she
glowered at her.

Shrugging, Mortisha shook off my mother's
tense physical demeanor. "I know only what you know. Cora is your
daughter and the ceremony must take place. Before the next new
moon, actually."

Mom gasped as she sat there mentally trying
to count the days to the next new moon.

"Five days, Mom." I answered her mental
mathematics. I breathed out a deep sigh as I immediately realized
that we had just taken a step forward towards the ritual.
Thank
goodness this subject came up. I was beginning to think we were
going to run out of time before the new moon.

Mom nodded sharply as her eyebrows furrowed
into deep ridges. "We have a lot to do then." She sounded
tired.

Just then the door to the back garden flew
open and smacked against the wall. I narrowed my eyes as I watched
the bloody werewolf stagger into the room, gripping his forehead
like he was dying.
Drama queen
.

"Jack!" My mother yelled out as she darted
from the couch to the side of the new bane of my existence. I
scowled at him as he reached out and leaned against her for
assistance.
Jerkwad. Playing it up for sympathy.

"He's
fine
, just took a spill down
the stairway. He's got a hard enough head that it couldn't have
hurt him at all." I smirked at him as he glared at me from my
mother's side.

"You
pushed
me!" He snapped at me as
he lunged in my general direction.

I sprang to my feet and my hands flashed as
a wicked grin seized control of my face. My blades were sitting in
my hands again, vibrating for some payback, and I was definitely
ready to take a go at the werewolf standing in front of me.

"Bring it, fleabag!" I growled at him as he
pushed my mother aside and crouched aggressively, drawing attention
to his technique and where I figured was a potential weakness in
his defenses. I couldn't keep myself from grinning at him, giving
him a full view of my fangs as I allowed a low growl to grow in my
chest.
Let's rumble, Wolfman Jack!

"Children! Children!" Mortisha laughed from
the couch like a grandmother smacking two naughty children into
place. "There will be NO fighting in this place of peace." Her eyes
darted to me and I could feel her willing me to look straight at
her, but I couldn't pull my eyes off of the werewolf that I was
going to split in two and serve up as dog chow. Another growl
rumbled low in my chest before I could stop myself.

"Cora!" Mortisha's voice demanded a
response.

My eyes slowly turned to Mortisha as I took
in her acrid tone. I immediately stopped what I was doing and
straightened my posture, chastised by the look on her face. My eyes
darted to the were to notice that he had done the same thing, but
he was actually looking at his shoes like he had been thoroughly
abashed.

"That's better." Mortisha calmly
straightened her skirt as she crossed her legs and motioned to the
couch and loveseat. "Now, everyone sit." It was not a request—it
was a demand, but she said it as sweetly as was humanly
possible.

My body melted into compliance as I released
a gusty huff and threw myself back into the oversized chair. "He
started it." I muttered under my breath.

Mortisha's head snapped in my direction but
I didn't make the mistake of looking at her. I just played with the
fabric on the arm of the chair as my mind circled around the
thoughts of destruction that I had planned for the annoying
werewolf. I grinned again at how much appreciation I had for all of
the weapons I was trained in.

Sighing, Mortisha looked up at the were and
asked, "Jack...?"

There was a loud huff as the were slunk to
the loveseat and glared at me from across the room, watching my
ever twitch as he lowered himself down tensely against the blue and
white fabric of the loveseat. I stared coldly at him and his eyes
glowered in automatic response. It was almost as if we had a direct
line to each other's whammy button.

"Okay, this isn't awkward at all." My mother
said as she walked back to the couch and sat down, first looking at
me and then to Jack before swinging back to eye me again. I had no
idea what she was looking for, but the fact that she was looking at
both of us the same way instantly made me uneasy.

Just then there was a swift shifting of air
and Solomon materialized behind the couch where he stood as still
as a statue but drew all attention to him.
Go, Dad! Perfect
timing!

His eyes scanned the room quickly, taking
each one of us into consideration before nodding at me and then
looking a bit surprised at the werewolf on the loveseat. The fact
that Dad recognized this annoying piece of meat didn't bother me,
but the nod of his head and the glimmer of respect that Dad gave
him instantly made me question the vibes that I was registering off
of the were from the moment that I first laid eyes on him. There
was just something that
bothered
me about the werewolf, but
Dad clearly didn't feel that way. So that basically meant that this
was a
personal
problem. I didn't like the idea of that.

"There were three shadow demons. Two that
met Cora and Jack on the beach and then another that was on its way
around the front from the road." He crossed his arms as he looked
swiftly between Jack and me. "What happened down there? Why did you
lose one of the demons?" His words were sharp, demanding.

"Hey," Jack put his hands in the air, "I
took one out. It's not my fault that the ice princess..."

"Whatever!" I railed at him, fighting to
keep my butt in the seat that Mortisha had banished me to, "You got
in the way of an
easy kill
!
You
were the distraction
that allowed the other demon to get away!" He was really getting on
my nerves.

"Just keep telling yourself that, honey." He
crossed his arms and leaned back in the cushion like he didn't have
a care in the world.
Honey? HONEY?!
My hackles were up.

"Okay," Solomon held his hands out towards
us, using his magnetic personality to attempt to calm us both down.
Turning to the werewolf first, he nodded down at him. "It looks
like some introductions are in order." He then turned and nodded at
me slowly, cautiously, "Cora, this is Jackson Rivers, my
lieutenant. Jackson, this is Cora Elena Ravenwood,
my...daughter."

Jackson straightened up and sat at attention
like someone had cracked a whip. His eyes were full of shock and
discomfort as he eyed me from across the room in disbelief.
"Your..." his voice trailed off, unable to accept what was being
laid out in front of him.
Slow as a snail. Idiot.

"Yes." Solomon crossed his arms against his
chest, spread his feet shoulder-width apart and smiled down at him
with a raised eyebrow. "She has rank, Jackson. Show her some
respect."